By the time they are seniors in high school, the majority of youth in the United States are, or have been, employed for pay outside their homes.

With the end of the school year fast approaching, many Louisiana teens will begin seeking summer employment. Since youth hiring increases significantly during the summer months, Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation (LWCC) is reminding employers as well as teen workers about the importance of safety in the workplace.

The potential for workplace injuries, especially for teenage workers, is a serious one. Nearly 230,000 teens in the United States are injured on the job every year, with nearly 100,000 of them requiring emergency room treatment. At least 70 teens die as a result of these workplace injuries. While Louisiana's rate of work-related fatalities for workers age 16 and older has decreased, the average rate of 6.8 per 100,000 workers is still higher than the U.S. average rate of 4.5, as of 2006. Employers are encouraged to provide proper training and safety measures, and young workers (with the guidance of their parents/guardians) are also encouraged to choose summer jobs wisely and do their part to adhere to workplace guidelines.

In 2007, the National Consumers League (NCL) released findings on the Five Worst Teen Jobs, which are the most frequent causes of workplace injury or death among young workers. Those jobs include, in order:

1) Agriculture: Agricultural workers aged 15 - 17 are four times more likely to incur fatal injuries than those in other workplaces.

2) Construction and work in heights: The most common types of fatal falls occur from working at heights of 6 feet and above, usually from rooftops, ladders, scaffolding or staging.

3) Outside helper: landscaping, groundskeeping and lawn service: While lawn mowing and clipping keeps teens on the ground, electrocution is common and so are injuries using chain saws and tractors.

4) Driver/operator of forklifts, tractors and ATVs: Injuries and resulting fatalities occur when minors are operating or riding as passengers, or non-operators are working near such machines. Tractor-related accidents are the most prevalent cause of agricultural fatality in the U.S.

5) Traveling youth crews: Young people who are recruited to sell candy, magazines and other door-to-door items under dangerous conditions and without adult supervision may be more vulnerable to assaults and abductions by customers and strangers.

"Safety is not common sense for young workers," says Michael Page, LWCC director of safety and loss prevention. "It takes commitment on the part of employers to ensure that young workers have the proper training and safeguards to keep them safe in the workplace. As leaders in youth hiring, industries such as fast-food, construction, amusement parks, retail and landscaping are particularly encouraged to create a culture of safety."

According to LWCC, summer hires and other employees with less than one year of experience on the job account for nearly half of LWCC's policyholder workplace injury claims. "The inexperience of young workers may result in accidents that can cost them not only their summer, but possibly their lives," says Page.

A list of tips, Summer Youth Safety, for safely employing young workers is available at www.lwcc.com and includes important information such as:

• Emphasize leadership from front-line supervisors on the hazards of work assignments and appropriate work practices to prevent injuries.  Supervisors have the greatest opportunity to influence new employees and their work habits.
• Show young workers how to use safety equipment and explain why it is critical to the job. Make sure they know when to wear protective gear such as eye protection,hard hats and gloves; where to find it; how to use it; and how to care for it.  Have them demonstrate they understand the message.
• Recognize that what may be obvious or common sense to an experienced employee may not be so clear to a young worker tackling a project for the first time.  It is important to build that knowledge through hands-on training and on-the-job coaching by skilled staff.

In addition to employers, other influencers such as parents and coworkers can play a vital role in encouraging young workers to follow safety guidelines on the job.

For more information on safely employing young workers, as well as a variety of other helpful workplace safety topics, visit LWCC's Web site at www.lwcc.com.

"As the start of the summer hiring season fast approaches, we simply ask that employers remain watchful about safety in the workplace so that everyone can have a safe, rewarding and productive summer," says Page.

About LWCC
LWCC (www.lwcc.com) is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company. It is Louisiana's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance, covering about 22,000 policyholders in the state. For six consecutive years, LWCC has been named one of the top 50 property and casualty insurance companies in the nation--out of more than 2,700--by Ward Group, the leading authority on insurance industry benchmarking.